Dispatches from New York: Victoria Beckham

For the frequent flyers of the world

‘It’s very cool and fresh, energetic and fun. And my woman is all of that,’ explained Victoria Beckham of the attitude that infused her strong SS16 show. She also said it was a reflection of her life now: ‘I travel a lot between London and Los Angeles, and to Africa for my charity work. I’m often in New York and I spend time in Asia as well – you can see that energy, colour and print in the clothes. And I’m also very happy, very up.’

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VB is nothing if not infectiously optimistic about all that she does and it was evident throughout in the clothes she presented today, with their brighter, lighter, freer spirit than we have hitherto seen from her. It was there in the fluid lightweight checks that opened the show, in the bold punches of colour – orange, yellow, cobalt – and in the primary-coloured prints. These came in bouncy gingham checks, hibiscus florals, and ‘Urban Surf’ as she called it – a modern, linear take on the classic Hawaiian print, which came disrupted and chopped up on easy vests and loose pleated skirts.

The silhouette was VB to a T: long and lean. But where once her fabrics tended towards robust structure, here they were ultra-fluid, which gave the collection an easy elegance. For Beckham, fashion and wearability are one in the same thing: she’s not interested in producing clothes that only resonate on the catwalk or in magazine editorials, so everything she puts out is pragmatic. That’s not to say that she doesn’t take risks or that her clothes don’t aim to be new. They do.

‘I like to wear things that are a bit more challenging. For me, that’s the culottes and print,’ she said. And she’s the ultimate VB customer, after all, while also being the best advert for her brand. Whether we will see her in one of her tomato-red suede harness tops (worn over a practical white t-shirt) or head-to-toe in Hawaiian prints, only time will tell. And while VB may never be seen striding out in those great chunky platform sandals (she was, of course, wearing her signature black high heels today) you can bet she’ll be sporting her new aptly-titled bag, the Half Moon, in a paparazzi flash sometime soon.

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